Despite the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, London still carries the title as Europe’s capital for fast-growing companies. Research conducted by Easy Offices, show London is Europe’s leading start-up economy ahead of Paris, Berlin and Milan. The newest Financial Times’ FT1000 list, brings together the top 1000 European companies that achieved the highest percentage growth in revenues between 2012 and 2015.
Out of all of the companies on this list, 78 are based in London, making the capital the most successful location for innovation in Europe. Paris is second with 45 companies, followed by Milan with 34 and Berlin with 32.
London’s Fast-growing Economy
326,000 of London fast-growing start-ups employ nearly 1.9 million people. In 2017, £5.3bn was invested into London start-ups alone. London is also home to more ‘Unicorns’ (billion-dollar startups) than any other European city.
London startup opportunities do come at a cost. Tech startups within the capital have the highest startup costs in the world, and West London is home to some of the world’s most expensive commercial properties. Henry Lowson, manager of Royal London’s UK smaller companies fund, explains “There are lots of young dynamic companies in London. You only have to walk around Old Street (the heart of London’s equivalent of Silicon Valley) to see them.”
Cost of London Office Space
Unsurprisingly, the cost of office space in London is of a substantial difference to other UK cities. The average rent in London costs £52, per sq ft per month. Cities such as Edinburgh and Brighton charge an average of £3 per sq ft per month and Manchester £34.
Easy Offices’ research also revealed that the UK technology startup fast-growing economy is rapidly on the rise. In 2017, UK tech companies gained double the amount of venture capital financing – £2.99bn – than those based in any other European country. The research also discovered that in 2017, UK businesses attracted four times more funding than German, French, Irish and Swedish based companies combined.
The success has stemmed due to the right conditions for entrepreneurial growth. Andrew Hogan, Easy Offices’ Sales Director, is hopeful that the UK startup scene will continue to thrive, especially in London. He states “The UK startup scene at the start of 2018 is performing very strongly indeed. With 2017 a year of record investment, it is with huge excitement that we await news on how these companies perform in the year ahead.”
Its estimated that startups will inject $460 billion into the UK’s economy, if local startup growth continues to flourish for the next two to three years.
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